A History of Calvin Connections to China
By Phil Holtrop '55

As author of this article, I will now shift to a first-person mode. In the fall of 1999, after retiring from Calvin's Religion department, I went with my wife Marie ('58) to teach at Beida on invitation of ERRC and the university's Graduate Doctoral English department. For four of the past six years we have taught in and coordinated the English program for PhD students at Beida, focusing on reading, listening, and especially speaking and writing. There are about 400 new graduate students at the university every semester apart from English majors, who-of course-do not need our program. We have a team of six or seven teachers -from the States, Canada, sometimes England, or Australia. Some years back, Larry and Harlean Stegink, and John Veltema, helped to set up the Beida graduate English program, which is now known and respected throughout China. Larry and Harlean taught in the department three and a half years, and John four years. Elaine Duimstra ('57) taught in the Beida program in the fall of last year.

But I am primarily a theologian. As I mentioned, I was one of the religion scholars and philosophers invited by Martha Chan and CAC to the conference at Beida that established the first religious studies department under the Chinese Ministry of Education. The Beida program and others that followed were designed to teach and study the "content of religion for information."

Currently there are religious studies departments at Beida, People's, Zhenjiang, Shandong, and Wuhan Universities-and other academic centers also have these programs in their philosophy departments. (At present, most of those other programs do not have the funds to invite foreign teachers.)

So how does one get English and religious studies together? Martha Chan sensed that if I was on location at Beida in English I could also teach a course in Christianity at a neighboring university in the new religious studies programs. And that is what happened. Kurt Selles had earlier taught a couple courses in Christianity at Beida, and in the fall of 1999-on invitation of Diane Obenchain, now in Calvin's Religion department-I taught a mini-course there on "Christianity and Culture." In the spring of 2000, on invitation, I taught a semester on "Basic Christian Ideas and Their Implications for Contemporary Western Culture" at People's University, Beijing. In the spring of 2001 I taught "A Christian Perspective on Global Ethics." In the fall I was privileged to be the only American attending an international seminar on Global Ethics, in Beijing, and one of two Americans at a conference on "The Christian View of Human Nature." At those meetings I met the main Chinese scholars in religion and came to know a number of their special interests and concerns. In the spring of 2003 I began to teach courses in Global Ethics at both Tsinghua and CASS-the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, which is commonly seen as China's main "think tank." That semester was interrupted by SARS. In the fall of 2003 some graduate students at CASS, with the school's permission, invited me to teach a course on "The Book of Romans." Although it was "for information," it elicited provocative questions and stimulating discussions. In the fall semester of this year, 2005, I will be giving lectures in two courses on Christianity at People's University.

In their English teaching programs at various Chinese universities, many Calvin alumni have had repeated opportunities to discuss East/West differences and issues in American education, family life, politics, art and science, and culture in general, including religion. At no time do they "proselytize"-but at all times they are free to answer questions and to give information. Their goal is always to "build bridges" and to be agents of reconciliation and understanding. Marie and I have had these exciting opportunities at Beida. Within an atmosphere of love and respect, we try to encourage our students to interact and even disagree with us. One advantage of this arrangement is that in the English program I have had many times more contacts than I could have if I taught only religion courses. Our assignment has also allowed Marie and me to work together-and to learn, together, some valuable lessons in Chinese life and culture. That was especially the case after 9-11, 2001 and during the SARS epidemic of 2003, when our students said openly that they were praying for us and their other Western teachers. "Please be careful. We are praying for you." It was the first time we had heard our students use that kind of language in public.

We never stop challenging our students to teach us in their discussions, essays, and journals. I give a few general guidelines. "Don't tell me how you slept last night or what you had for breakfast. Tell me about Chinese philosophy, education, religion, families-or any other cultural topics. Tell me what you think of the U.S., the war in Iraq, or President Bush. But whatever else you do, be sure to tell me 'why.'" The result is that every semester we ourselves get a superb education from our students. Other teachers in China experience the same thing. Sometimes our students write or say that they are sharing with us what they would not say or write to any other human being-including their fathers, mothers, friends, or compatriots.

We are excited about being part of all this drama at China's premier university. Many of our mature graduate students are already leaders in education, business, society, politics, or even the Supreme Court in the "New China." One had to discontinue our course to be the governor of Guanxi Province-"heeding the Party's call." Another was a member of the Taiwan congress, who proposed a gradual or "natural" reunification of Taiwan and the China Mainland. A third was a member of the Chinese Supreme Court. Another student is on the Olympic Planning Committee for designing and landscaping the grounds for the Beijing Games in 2008. Many of our students have gone to international conferences in the States, Europe, Japan, Australia, or other parts of the world. Several have written books or noted articles in their areas of expertise. And besides all that, in our church fellowship we have become friends with ambassadors from New Zealand, Iceland, and the United States-and with other embassy officials and chief businesspersons for the whole of China.

Over the last twenty years, a number of Chinese students have come to North America, or Calvin, because of the efforts of Calvin alumni teachers. Pete and Mary Oppewall (both '45), Clif Orlebeke, Nelvin ('60) and Lucy Jager ('59), John Veltema, George ('50) and Nancy Jasperse ('65), Jana Brasser, and the Steginks have all guided students through the visa process. Marie and I have also experienced those joys. Since 1992, I have helped more than twenty Chinese students through the traumas of procuring visas to study at North American colleges or universities. Sixteen or seventeen have gone to the States, three or four to Canada, and others are in the process of applying for Stateside-programs now. Six have attended-or are attending-Calvin College and three are in Calvin Seminary, preparing for pastoral or theological leadership in China. One was my translator in a lecture at Shandong University. One was a house-church pastor who attended the Romans course at CASS. One had been in a discussion group with Steginks in 2002 and continued with Marie and me in 2003. He is also a PhD candidate at Beida in economics and is eager to construct a moral base for economic theory in China. During the fall semester, this year, I will be trying to shepherd two more Chinese students through the visa process to Calvin Seminary. All this, of course, is not a part of the ERRC or ELIC programs, but is a byproduct of "building bridges" and seizing opportunities when they present themselves.

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